Saturday, June 4, 2011

Vacation Knitting!

Last night at around 6:30, with report cards written and submitted, session reports locked, and voicemail messages changed, TMG and I set our work emails to "Out of Office" auto-responders. We are officially ON VACATION!

We are heading to LA on Monday so that TMG can attend the Electronic Entertainment Expo (aka "E3"). I am excited for our first trip to the "Left Coast," not only because we are going to Disneyland on Friday (!!!), but because I will have four days of uninterrupted knitting time while he gets his geek on at the convention center.

Today's agenda involves doing laundry, packing bags, and, most importantly, deciding on what knitting projects I will take on the trip. I got to thinking about what criteria the perfect project(s) would have.

First, I decided that I needed a project that would be simple or repetitive enough that I could pick it up and put it down from one moment to the next, without worrying about losing my place in a lace pattern or chart. Ideally, it would be something with a memorizable pattern or, at the very least, one that could be neatly summarized on a 3x5" index card. It needed to be small, so as not to take up all of the precious space in my carry-on luggage. As it is summer and we are heading to California, I also decided that a plant-based fiber would be more suitable than wool.

A quick scan of my Ravelry queue led to a serious "duh" moment when I realized that I still haven't knit the ubiquitous Clapotis by Kate Gilbert. I have a skein of Blue Heron Rayon Metallic yarn that I got in a swap some years ago that is PERFECT for the pattern. First project - check!

The second project I decided on is the Haruni Shawl pattern by Emily Ross. I cast this one on back in February as part of a KAL, but I only got a few rows into it before getting distracted and relegating it to the UFO basket. This will be a great project because it will only take one skein of sock yarn, and it is complicated enough to keep me busy during the days at the hotel. The yarn is a wool blend, but the lacy pattern and circular needles will keep it from pooling up in my lap and being too hot. Second project - check!

I decided that a sock project was necessary because, well, a sock project is always necessary. I started knitting the Farmer McGregor Socks out of a skein of J. Knits Superwash Me Sock in the Connecticut colorway two weekends ago, but ended up frogging them because the yarn and pattern just weren't playing nicely in the sandbox. I have decided that the Crevasse Socks will be my next sock project, and I am thinking about trying them with the J. Knits yarn. I saved the cuff from the other sock, so I will be trying the Crevasse pattern this weekend and seeing if it is a better match for the yarn. If not, my plan "B" is a skein of Knit Picks Bare yarn that I dyed with Easter egg dye last weekend.

Now that my knitting projects are planned (and I've printed a copy of the "Yes, knitting needles ARE allowed on airplanes" document from tsa.gov, I suppose it's time to start thinking about what else to pack, like, you know, clothes. What can I say, I have my priorities!